Fire alarm devices such as audible horns (audible/visible or A/V), loudspeakers (speaker/visible or S/V) and visible strobes (visible only or V/O), are referred to as “notification appliances.” Typically, a fire alarm control panel (FACP) drives these devices over one or more “notification appliance circuits” (NACs). The strobes are required, for example, as an alert for the hearing-impaired, or for those in a high noise environment.
A strobe is typically made up of a high-intensity Xenon flash tube, an electronic control circuit, a terminal block to connect the device to the NAC, a housing, a strobe reflector assembly, and a transparent protective dome.
The strobe is a notification device designed to disperse its light output in a predetermined pattern. Further, the strobe is typically installed to a wall or ceiling of a building. Because of the different installations (whether to the wall or ceiling), the strobe should be tailored for the type of installation to ensure the proper predetermined pattern of light is output from the strobe. Thus, the strobe needs to be designed specifically so that, when installed to either the wall or to the ceiling, the strobe provides the required light output in the proper pattern. However, these specific designs increase the complexity of the strobe. Accordingly, a need exists for configuring a strobe for a variety of environments that is simpler in design.